DJFish

If you have had this done to your car PLEASE GO OUT RIGHT NOW AND CLOSELY CHECK THE INNER SHOULDERS OF YOUR TYRES!

I won't go in to details but just make sure you check them thoroughly!

Do it now! Please.

Safe driving all
Dave

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

They toe the tyres in, so you will get more wear on the inside, unless you drive like a loon and wear the outside at the same time

Tony

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

I think you need to go into a bit more detail?

ben44

Agree with Tony, they will do that.

Its a trackday/fast road setting to make your car corner better. If you don't go round corners that quick, then I agree, its a bit pointless.

But no-ones brought a Subaru to drive like Mrs Daisy have they????

(Resident old fart excluded)

GrahameS

What he said..

Have you just found out what a lot of people already know, or is it something more serious?

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

With toe in the outside edges should wear not the insides though shouldn't they? Toe out causes the inside edges to wear and produces better turn in doesn't it?

Iwan

I think it's more a result of using more camber (the tops of the front tyres leaning inwards), than using more toe-in.

I have mine set up with a fair bit of front camber, it i'mproves the steering/turn-in but i know it will wear the inside edges of the tyre a bit more in normal driving. It's a trade off.

BrynO

^^^ what they all said, although I thought it was the additional negative camber with 'fast road' settings that caused the inner edge to wear..

GrahameS

You are right actually Paul:

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

They must put in some -ve camber (if thats correct for top of wheels in) as well. Mine wear more on the inner edges anyway.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

^^ Yeah, agree with the above. It was my understanding that toe-in (at the front) causes the car to turn in more eaglery, but causes more wear across the whole of the tyre. I think its toe-out at the rear that helps the car to be more agile (but less stable at speed)

Negative camber also gives better turn in, but will wear the insides of the tyres.

I think they use a combination of both

Mo

I guess it's the negative camber they dial in, Prodrive recommend as much as possible with standard components.

Geometry settings depend entirely on your driving style; do you thing that you'd want to run the same settings as McRae would if he drove an Impreza??

If you pootle up and down the motorway each and every day with the odd trip out on Sunday mornings to the papershop then do not run with these settings as you will see slightly more wear on the inside, if however you drive it a little more enthusiastically then yes do run with these settings.

If you find you still have wear on the outer edges then you really need to look at ways to increase that camber and/or castor

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

Increasing negative camber will also improve turn in when driven hard but it and will cause the tyres to wear in that way if not driven so.

I know sod all about caster angles though

Mo

Would just like to add that it's the 'static' camber that causes the uneven wear.

If you imagine a line taken vertically from the centre of your wheel then another line from the centre of your wheel to the top of the strut, the measured angle is the castor angle. If the top of the strut is set towards the rear of the car this is a positive castor angle.

Positive castor increases the negative camber of the outer wheel through a turn (dynamic camber) meaning you can run less 'static' camber.

Dick Cheese

Dave, the Prodrive geometry settings are suitable for most impreza drivers who drive the car the way it was meant to be driven on a mix of all road types. The increased negative camber will increase the wear on the inside edge of the tyres if you do a lot of motorway miles and don't take corners very quickly (but if that is the case - why use the prodrive settings?).

It sounds like your geometry is set too agressively for your style of driving and that less (or no) negative camber would be better for you. In that case you will see the more usual wearing on the outside edge of the tyres which will be plainly visible for anyone looking at the car.

All enthusiasts should inspect their tyres regularly!

To add to this - please DO inspect your tyres NOW for wear and adjust your camber for YOUR style of driving - Prodrive geomoetry isn't for everyone.
Also, I would suggest removing your wheels at least once a month and checking the entire surface of the tyre for embedded screws and nails - it will only take about 30 minutes to do a thorough check and it is surprising what you may find!

DJFish

Thanks for the replies guys,
I shall elaborate a little, I got the geo settings done earlier in the year, and basically I'm a little shocked at the amount of inner wear that I'm suffering and also how difficult it is to actually spot without getting down and dirty under your car(and realistically, how many people actually do this?)
I'm just about to get the fronts changed due to a huge blister appearing on the smoothed over inner shoulders (3mm outer measurement)and six months ago discovered the previous set worn down to the wire with 2.5mm on the outer edges.
And I thought I checked my tyres quite regularly.
With the amount of people getting this mod done, I think there should be more emphasis on regularly checking your tyres.

As has been said this is a track/fast road mod, fair enough, but I'm wondering if it's actually compatible with 'normal' use, after all you don't take every corner at 10/10ths and even a track day usually requires a motorwway slog to get there.
Maybe I'm just drving like an old woman?
Cheers
Dave

ben44

Tip - Everynow and again when you park, leave the steering on hard lock. (either way) When you get out you can check the fronts very easily

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

But not if you're parked at the side of the road

Mo

Dave, can you answer a couple of questions because this does not sound the norm, unless of course you do only drive in a straight line everywhere

• How many miles have you completed on the front tyres in question?
• What were the actual geometry settings?

And yes, many of us do actually get down and dirty under our cars

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Actually this is a sure fire way to knacker your power steering pump..!

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

I think that it should also be stated that the Prodrive settings are definately not for everyone. Your car came with its standard setup for a reason.

If you are going to change from standard it is for you to understand why you want to do this, and what effects it will have. If you have been given duff advice by the professionals then that is a different issue.

Nicci

I love the way the car handles (once the prodrive geometry was done).

Hopefully my tyre wear doesn't get too bad (as I seem to do more motorway miles than fun corners).

Thanks for the warning anyway.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Just a thought:

Are you sure the Prodrive settings were apllied correctly. It was my understanding that the're quite mild and should not significantly affect inside edge wear on the tyres.

NS04

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Good point. Aren't the Whiteline settings considered more extreme..?

DJFish

Can't really remember the mileages involved, it's just the uneavenness that caused me most concern with around 2-3 mm on the outer edge and across most of the tyre.

Again, couldn't tell you without a lot of digging around however the Pr0-drive settings were carried out by a very reputable company in Rainham I'm sure a lot of people are familar with, so while I don't doubt the quality of the work, I just think people should be made aware that uneaven tyre wear is the norm and that it may not be apparent.

At the end of the day, it's obviously not right for my grandad style of driving, shame my fuel consumption doesn't tell the same story!

EVOLUTION

ok.

well i have had a knock at the front end. Enough to need a front left wheel replacing. The wheel was replaced and i got the tracking checked.

it was miles out on the front left.

Im not sure if this means anything, but the light shon from the front lright cast the shadow on the 3.5 mark. the shadow from the left was 6.???

so he set them both at 4. Now this makes no sense to me and whilst i know the wheels are parralelle, the car drives in a straight line, was the setting right???

Took the car out last night for a few hours, the gave it a spirited drive home, wet roundabout which i use everyday, went to go straight ove, yet the car did not want to turn at all, massive amounts of understeer. Really shocked me as i have never had this before.

Any advice anyone, im wanting to take it some where decent to get it checked out anywhere in the north east.

What exactly are the setting and how does it change the car???

Cheers

John

p1doc

got prodrive settings on front does not effect my tyre wear signifigantly you need to get your geometry rechecked by another garage to see what geometry is on your tyres.prodrive do say that you can get excessive wear on the inner aspect didnt your reputable company tell you?if geometry is wrong their fault-who supplied them with prodrive settings ie are they correct for your year of car as it does vary year to year esp classic/newage.it does not take long to check the full width of tyres once a week with tyre gauge,it should be done on at least 3 areas of the tyre ie inner/middle/outer as if this is done tyres can be swapped if possible,how often do you check your tread depth/
martin

highlander68k

I would be interested to see if the settings are still close to where they originally were. It really doesn't take a lot to knock them out of place.

The 'fast road' settings will punish the tyres harder than normal, but they shouldn't do so excessively. I get around 12,000 out of my fronts and they tend to rapidly deteriorate over the last 500 miles.

G00ner

How dramatic, lol.

So it's Prodrive's fault your tyres are bald? they set the car up did they? they checked the settings every few weeks to see if the geometry was still ok? they made sure you hadn't curbed it? etc etc

ATTENTION: SCOOBYNET READERS!

While I was reading this site my chip pan boiled over and my house burn't down, why didn't they warn me?!?!

hehe

ruminator

GOOner. you want to watch them Prodrive Chip Pans !
I had a similar thing happen to me, excessive wear due to the rear of the pan rubbing on the hob cover at higher gas marks.
Dump the Prodrive rubbish and try the asda specials... Worked for me

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

^^ Ahhh but those Asda specials don't half suffer from bump steer

Soon as you giving it some with a stirrer they are all over the place